Road to 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games - Transportation Findings of Large Public Events in Downtown Vancouver

The City of Vancouver is Host City for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. While the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) is ultimately responsible for delivering transportation services within the Olympic Domain, the City and other transportation partners need to work closely with VANOC to integrate transportation planning within and outside the Olympic Domain, also known as the Urban Domain. To better prepare for planning and delivering the 2010 Winter Games, the City, in partnership with VANOC and other partners, conducted a series of transportation surveys over the last year. The primary objective of the surveys was to determine the travel characteristics associated with large special events in Downtown Vancouver. The survey efforts included pedestrian, vehicle, transit, parking counts and detailed market research. For each event, full crowd size estimates and mode splits were determined. This paper discusses the City's strategic transportation planning for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, presents a sampling of the key findings of the stadium special event transportation surveys, and highlights lessons learned on what the City and the public can do regarding their mobility leading up to and during the Games.